Petulia Clarke, Staff Reporter
HMMM. Ever wondered what size certain people wear? Are there panties specially made for skinny people, larger people or those with bigger than usual buttocks?
Have you ever felt too embarrassed to just 'pick out a pair'?
What about thongs? How much will a woman pay to avoid the dreaded visible panty line? Will she have to budget it in? Can you live with the embarrassing A-cup or must you save towards a Wonderbra? How do you fit lacy black thongs and spandex briefs into the monthly expense list?
Would you even be brave enough to just stop anywhere and buy one?
Bodices and corsets
Aeons ago, at the turn of 19th century Europe, the desire to reduce women's waists led to the binding of women's bodies where girls as young as four and five were buttoned into bodices and then laced into corsets and lacy pantaloons to achieve the desired figure of the elegant lady. The ideal necessitated a flat stomach and uplifted bosom that cost many a woman to swoon from the confines of it all.
Luckily, with the sexual revolution following World War I, the modern brassiere and knickers came in and it was a race towards bareness from there on.
Nowadays you can choose undies as just a bare necessity, or "wear then for the one you love".
So says the slogan for 'Under-Ease' for flatulence (gas): "protective airtight underwear with a replaceable charcoal filter to remove bad gas before it escapes". Under-Ease is being sold at US$24- US$29.95 over the Internet and claims to eliminate the foul odour caused by flatulence before it seeps into the atmosphere.
Along less mystifying lines, 'unmentionables' come in all shapes, sizes, colours and textures. There are edible and individually inscribed panties, specially made to the wearer's taste, simple and cost-effective cotton briefs, silk, nylon and polyester. They range from the skimpy low-rise thongs to the cover-all corsets and briefs, from bikinis and knickers to girdles for the more corpulent woman.
And small and insignificant as they may seem, the local price for that tiny piece of fabric that covers the privates can run from the very cheap $50 into the thousands.
Checks in the lingerie sections at stores uptown including Ammars, Josephs and Lee's Fifth Avenue reveal that the tiniest thong goes from $90-$400 in most stores. There's a choice between low-rise, see-through, psychedelic and thick or super-thin butt strings. A Victoria's Secret thong could set you back $650-$700 and a Calvin Klein $600-plus.
A pack of three simple white cotton briefs for women goes at around $600 plus, while 'tummy huggers' go for between $700 and $2,500. Girdles include hiphuggers, tummy flatteners and thigh slimmers for women with said problems, geared at getting those wayward spare tyres back where they should be. Girdles, in the form of panties or skirts, can run from $300 upwards.
Satin camisoles in one store was $1,000 plus, while simpler cotton ones were $450. Simple ladies briefs and lace panties went as low as $69. Corsets (yes, they're still in) go up to $2,000 and cotton underwear sets which include matched camisole and briefs go for $500 plus.
Lingerie items, from lines like Vanity Fair, Wonderbra, Valentino and Calvin Klein are most expensive. There are comfortable slip/nighties for the sensual woman that can be worn interchangeably day or night that can run you over the $1,000 mark. Lace teddies, for those social nights go from $300-$2,500.
If the budget doesn't allow, for the mere convenience of the deed, if you're into stopping on the streetside for a quick 'glance and pick-up' and don't mind feisty higglers telling you which undies will make your man love you more, three lace panties on the streets downtown cost just between $100-$200. Thongs are in full swing too, and go as low as $50 sometimes, according to a vendor on Beckford Street. The 'bingo bags' for the older ladies she said, are between $30 and $100.
Lerner Shops has pantylike girdles for as low as $180, and simple cotton panties for as low as $50 while Josephs has a wide variety of all shapes and sizes underwear, most ranging from $60-$400.
Brassieres
No longer a confinement, you name it, they are there. In almost every store, there are bras for everyone's needs - full coverage, that covers from shoulder to navel, T-back with front closure for the hip young students, straps closer to the neck for sleeveless blouses and dresses, push-up to create a cleavage, lightly lined contoured bras to camouflage the nipples, moulded bras with no seams for tight-fitting stretch tops and a variety of sport bras.
There's the ever faithful Wonderbra and its spin-offs, an A-cup woman's dream. Uptown, all sizes and colours retail at around $700, and other substitutes that go from as low as $200-$1,000. In stores Downtown, the Wonderbra spin-off can go as low as $200-$600. There are the simple nylon and lace brassieres that go as low as $50 for the woman who needs little support, to the bras with the underwire which can sometimes run over $500.
Ever wondered what men were into?
Here's food for thought. John Rackham, the 1700s pirate was better known as 'Calico Jack', allegedly because of his preference for underwear made from calico.
Today, ever since that Michael Jordan's Hanes underwear commercial, ladies everywhere have been asking that important question.
Boxers or briefs?
Boxers, because men "like the freedom", have always been in and simple cotton ones uptown go from $150-$400 each. Downtown, they're sold on the streets wholesale at three for $150, while in many other stores they range from $50-$200.
Briefs are available in quite a number of styles, from the bikinis to the fuller knicker-looking ones. These cost between $100 and $300 downtown.
Thongs any men?
Though "the very thought of having a piece of string stuck in the backside is not a man thing", according to a male friend, thongs for men are increasingly popular especially on the North Coast and with male strippers. It was hard though to spot any in the stores visited.
However inconsistent and strange are the whims of persons when choosing what they wear under their clothes, whether the surprise lies in the high-cut, skin-tight, barely there or all there - one thing's a given, never underestimate the cost of that little strip of fabric.
